Santander pulls out of RBS talks

RBS needs to sell a whole load of their Williams & Glyn branches, by the end of next year under European state aid rules.

Santander were eyeing over 300 branches up, but have pulled out of talks, leaving RBS in a sticky position once again.

RBS is still 73% owned by taxpayers after their £45 billion bailout, and thanks to this, have to sell off a part of their business. That's all well and good, but what can they do if no-one actually wants to buy in?

The FT broke the story, and said that talks have failed over price.

Williams & Glyn was originally valued at £1.9 billion, and Santander put an offer in over the summer.

When it finally happens, a number of RBS customers will be automatically moved over to the Williams & Glyn wing, and it will become the UK's seventh biggest bank, with around 1.7 million customers.

This isn't the first time Santander have walked away from talks, and RBS continue to have problems as they have thrown £1.2 billion at W&G to try and create a new technology platform for it.

The problem is, is that they can't base it on the existing RBS one, as it has to be completely separate.